[2015 RWC] Quarter Final 3: Ireland vs. Argentina (18/10/2015)

Tony Manx · Oct 13, 2015

rgman said:
There`s better players at Pumas bench than "pretty face" Bosch, ban is fine for me.

Hear hear!! Most selfish centre ever seen play!

dunney77 · Oct 13, 2015

If Ireland can put in the same level of intensity they did on Sunday, it will be an extremely tough game for the Pumas. Not because they are poorer than Ireland, but because if Ireland can build a lead they are difficult to beat.

Of course, this doesn't make Ireland favorites but it will be interesting to see how Argentina perform against an EXTREMELY structured game plan - not the fantastic all-in rugby of Namibia and Tonga which creates huge counterattacking opportunities. Ireland hopefully, with a roaring Millennium Stadium, will not give them an inch.

I also thought the key to stifling the French attack was simply creating an absolute nuisance at every scrum, lineout and breakdown (SOB will be a huge miss in this regard). This HAS to happen again if we are to stand a chance.

big ginger 8 · Oct 13, 2015

Mike McCarthy confirmed as call up for PO'C.

http://www.the42.ie/paul-oconnell-ruled-out-of-world-cup-2384899-Oct2015/

munstermuffin · Oct 13, 2015

big ginger 8 said:
Mike McCarthy confirmed as call up for PO'C.

http://www.the42.ie/paul-oconnell-ruled-out-of-world-cup-2384899-Oct2015/

Hopefully he can get back to his best form and contribute to this.

WaterboySA · Oct 13, 2015

He the same type of player than POC?

dunney77 · Oct 13, 2015

Will O'Connell's injury fire up the team to repeat Sunday?

pat mcgroin · Oct 13, 2015

McCarthy is in good form for leinster at the moment and has been picked because of that. He is an apt replacement great workrate similar to POC as he has great experience both for province and country. He is a leader also.

Amiga500 · Oct 13, 2015

Lourens said:
He the same type of player than POC?

Not really.

Nowhere near as good in the lineout, probably not the same workrate although can make big hits (dumped Etzebeth on his arse in Lansdowne a few years ago), perception would be he's a better carrier.

More (a poor mans) Bakkies Botha than Victor Matfield.

Leonormous Boozer · Oct 13, 2015

Johnny's reported to have gotten the all clear!! As terrible as it is losing Paulie, who is one of the GOATs for Ireland, Sexton is the most important player to any one team at this RWC. I think Johnny can get us through Sunday and if Seanie only gets one week we definitely have the tools going forward. Great news after what had preceded it, bring on the rugby paradise that is this weekend!!!

MunsterMan · Oct 13, 2015

Kind of uncomfortable with Sexton playing. Whatever about his 'abductor', that looked like a concussion. Hopefully the medical staff are doing their job and he is indeed ready to play.

Every Time Ref · Oct 13, 2015

dunney77 said:
If Ireland can put in the same level of intensity they did on Sunday, it will be an extremely tough game for the Pumas. Not because they are poorer than Ireland, but because if Ireland can build a lead they are difficult to beat.

Of course, this doesn't make Ireland favorites but it will be interesting to see how Argentina perform against an EXTREMELY structured game plan - not the fantastic all-in rugby of Namibia and Tonga which creates huge counterattacking opportunities. Ireland hopefully, with a roaring Millennium Stadium, will not give them an inch.

I also thought the key to stifling the French attack was simply creating an absolute nuisance at every scrum, lineout and breakdown (SOB will be a huge miss in this regard). This HAS to happen again if we are to stand a chance.

I've been saying for a while, I think Argentina's defence, while heroic, is lacking a pressure release.

a) They don't defend aggressively with a quick linespeed, so they rarely gain metres in the contact
b) They don't make enough turnovers (this is partly a consequence of a)
c) Their kicking game is poor, so they don't effectively clear their lines or kick and regather often enough.

All three combined can lead to what happened against NZ - they defend heroically for phase after phase after phase, but never look like escaping from the situation and sooner or later something gives and they concede. I think this will be key against Ireland - if they execute their gameplan, I would expect Ireland to turn the screw because that gameplan based on kicking and relentless rucking is almost perfectly designed to exploit the weaknesses above. SO a lot depends on Sexton playing - if he does, I can't see the gameplan failing. If Sexton doesn't play, they should still expect to boss the breakdown, but a lot will come down to whether Madigan controls the game with the boot.

TRF_Olyy · Oct 13, 2015

MunsterMan said:
Kind of uncomfortable with Sexton playing. Whatever about his 'abductor', that looked like a concussion. Hopefully the medical staff are doing their job and he is indeed ready to play.

Hasn't he got serious previous with concussions too?
Very sketchy situation.

munstermuffin · Oct 13, 2015

TRF_Olyy said:
Hasn't he got serious previous with concussions too?
Very sketchy situation.

That's the whole issue. If he gets another 1 in near future he may be forced to sit out for a few months.

Cruz_del_Sur · Oct 13, 2015

Every Time Ref said:
I've been saying for a while, I think Argentina's defence, while heroic, is lacking a pressure release.

a) They don't defend aggressively with a quick linespeed, so they rarely gain metres in the contact
b) They don't make enough turnovers (this is partly a consequence of a)
c) Their kicking game is poor, so they don't effectively clear their lines or kick and regather often enough.

All three combined can lead to what happened against NZ - they defend heroically for phase after phase after phase, but never look like escaping from the situation and sooner or later something gives and they concede. I think this will be key against Ireland - if they execute their gameplan, I would expect Ireland to turn the screw because that gameplan based on kicking and relentless rucking is almost perfectly designed to exploit the weaknesses above. SO a lot depends on Sexton playing - if he does, I can't see the gameplan failing. If Sexton doesn't play, they should still expect to boss the breakdown, but a lot will come down to whether Madigan controls the game with the boot.

Two questions:
1) do you expect Ireland to put the same amount of pressure as, say, NZ?
2) That plan didn't appear to work against Italy, despite Italy losing a lot of balls to Irish high kicks because of own (unforced) handling errors. Why do you think that was?

dunney77 · Oct 13, 2015

Cruz_del_Sur said:
Two questions:
1) do you expect Ireland to put the same amount of pressure as, say, NZ?
2) That plan didn't appear to work against Italy, despite Italy losing a lot of balls to Irish high kicks because of own (unforced) handling errors. Why do you think that was?

When Ireland have their tails up, they are one of the best teams at putting pressure. It happens rarely but as I mentioned before the French game (11 vs Eng, 13 vs NZ, 14 vs Wales and 15 vs England) - they play like men possessed.

Can they summon the energy to do it again against a physical Argentina? I suspect POC will galvanize them to do it. Problem is..SOB, POM and POC are the best at this.

Problem is any poor kicks (I agree with Every Time Ref) will gift some extremely talented Pumas space and possession. However, unlike Tonga and Namibia, it isn't likely they can score from their own 22 past Tommy B and D Kearney.

lynam1104 · Oct 13, 2015

Am I the only one who didn't seem to notice any contact to the head of Sexton? My understanding is he sliced a kick and in doing so strained his groin, following that he got hit hard by Picamoles but it didn't looked like he took any knock to the head of any sort.

dunney77 · Oct 13, 2015

lynam1104 said:
Am I the only one who didn't seem to notice any contact to the head of Sexton? My understanding is he sliced a kick and in doing so strained his groin, following that he got hit hard by Picamoles but it didn't looked like he took any knock to the head of any sort.

That's what I thought. He was sick as he took a huge on in the rib area

munstermuffin · Oct 13, 2015

lynam1104 said:
Am I the only one who didn't seem to notice any contact to the head of Sexton? My understanding is he sliced a kick and in doing so strained his groin, following that he got hit hard by Picamoles but it didn't looked like he took any knock to the head of any sort.

Don't need a knock to head for concussion. Especially if you've had issues before. And the Picamoles tackle made his neck fly back in a way that could easily cause whiplash as well as concussion. My point is I hope that concussion isn't anything to be scoffed at and Sexton didn't look like someone who had groin issue. I hope he's ok just hope there's no Russian roulette involved.

dunney77 · Oct 13, 2015

munstermuffin said:
Don't need a knock to head for concussion. Especially if you've had issues before. And the Picamoles tackle made his neck fly back in a way that could easily cause whiplash as well as concussion. My point is I hope that concussion isn't anything to be scoffed at and Sexton didn't look like someone who had groin issue. I hope he's ok just hope there's no Russian roulette involved.

Would the coaching staff ever consider doing that?...would rather he pulled out the team if that's the case

TheOvalBall · Oct 13, 2015

It seems as though Sexton might recover in time for saturday.
http://www.balls.ie/rugby/the-update-on-johnny-sextons-injury-that-we-all-needed-to-hear/312337

[2015 RWC] Quarter Final 3: Ireland vs. Argentina (18/10/2015)

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